Thought for the Week - 3rd December 2023

Dear Friends, 

For the Advent season this year I’m using again The Little Book of Advent, complied by Canon Arthur Howells, it is described as ‘an indispensable collection of readings from some of the most celebrated modern-day spiritual writers’ including Henri Nouwen, Kathy Galloway, Jane Williams and David Adam. In a reflection entitled ‘Be Still’ by Michael Stancliffe, a Church of England priest who was a canon of Westminster Abbey, a former chaplain to the Speaker of the House of Commons, and Dean of Winchester, he reflects on the prophet Elijah’s encounter with the Lord on Mount Horeb where God met him, ‘not in the roaring of the wind, nor in the commotion and convulsion of the earthquake, nor in the terrible power of the fire – but in a still, small voice’, and as Stancliffe, describes, Elijah ‘had reached the still point at the centre’. He says, ‘For the still centre is the source of all life and power and might… ‘Be still and know that I am God’ (Psalm 46:10) … We are to be still because, by that means, we may come closest to God, to the core and centre of all things. We are to be still because, by that means, we may sit at his feet, clothed and in our right minds and able to hear the still small voice. We are to be still because, by that means, we may be delivered from dizziness and busyness and may find both the peace that passes understanding and the source of all power and might. ‘Be still and know that I am God’.’ (The Little Book of Advent, 29). As we begin again this season of Advent and the preparations to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, may we find those moments in the hustle and bustle of life to be still and listen out for the still small voice of God. 

Grace and peace, 

Neil

A Prayer for the Season of Advent

God of hope, who brought love into this world, be the love that dwells between us.

God of hope, who brought peace into this world, be the peace that dwells between us.

God of hope, who brought joy into this world, be the joy that dwells between us.

God of hope, the rock we stand upon, be the centre, the focus of our lives

always, and particularly this Advent time. Amen.

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